Rotor



C. E. TACK' March 28, 1944.

ROTOR Filed April 30, 1942 2 Shee'ts-Shee-t 1 c. E. TACK 2,345,017

ROTOR Filed April 30, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 March 28, 1944.

Patented Mar. 28, 1944 ROTOR Carl E. Tack, Chicago, Ill., assignor to American Steel Foundries,v Chicago, Ill., a corporation of New Jersey Application April 30, 1942 Serial No. 4414273 (Cl. 18S-2.64).

12 Claims.

My invention relates to brake equipment. and particularly to a novel form of rotor designed to be associated with other braking means commonly called stators whose ensagementi with said rotor is commonly utilized as a means of stopping a Wheel or other rotating member.

My novel rotor is. particularly adapted foruse with railway rolling stock although it will be understood that such a rotor may be utilized for any equivalent purpose for which it may be readily adapted.

My invention comprehends a rotor of the general form shown and described in my co-pending application, Serial No. 409,999, filed September 8, 1941 in the United States Patent O-ftice, said rotor comprising three spaced annular plates interconnected by radially arranged equidistantly spaced blades, the central of said plates being connected at its inner perimeter to a support member affording a connection to a rotating member. This arrangement not only permits air to be drawn through the rotor from both sides of the support member during actuation of said rotor but also reduces thermal stresses on the support member by connecting it to the central plate instead of to one of the friction plates as in the previous design.

The principal object of the present invention is to design a rotor of the type shown in my Said co-pending application in which the shape of the blades between the annular plates is such as to increase turbulence of air passing between said plates in order to cause said air to impinge upon the surfaces with which it comes into contact and thereby to reduce the nlm of air which is present on said surfaces during actuation of the rotor and which serves to insulate said surfaces and to prevent cooling thereof.

Another o-bject of my invention is to increase the eiective width of attachment of the blades to the friction and support plates utilized in my novel arrangement by increasing the size of the plates.

The above-mentioned objects are accomplished by casting the blades with transverse ribs, said ribs being hollow in one of the modifications shown and solid in the other of the modifications shown. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that by thus shaping the blades turbullence of air passing therebetween is increased and that the eifective width of attachment of said blades to the friction plates and to the support member is increased, thus strengthening the rotor structure` A different object of my invention is to reduce mechanical stresses upon the rotor by positioning the blades in alignment at opposite sides of the rotor so that they form columns thereacross.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of with nonrotatable brake elements or stators.

` thereof.

my novel rotor and Figure 2 is an edge elevation thereof,r taken freinA the, right as seen, in Figure 1, withv a portion cut away along the radial planes indicated by they line 2-2 of Figure 1 Figure 3.. is an enlarged sectional view taken in the plane indicated by the line 3--3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary side elevation of another modification of my novel rotor.

Describing the rotor in detail and referring first to the modification shown in Figures 1 to 3 inclusive, the support member generally designated 2 comprise a bell-like portion, 4 with a hub portion 6. hereinaftervmore fully described, said bell-like portion being formed with a plate-like portion lll affording Support for the, rotor gen- SFS-Hy designated I. 2 Said plate-like portion lil being positioned intermediate a pair 0f associated friction plates and connected thereto as hereinafter more fullydescribed.

The lateral friction plates lli-and I8 of annular form are secured to opposite sides of the platelike portion l0 by means of the equidistantly spaced1 radiallyarranged blades 20, 2li. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the outer surfaces of the annular plates lli and I8 are formed and arranged for frictional engagement In the modification shown in Figures 1 to 3 inclusive the blades 2i), 2Q extending between the member I8 and the plate i8 are aligned with the blades 2i), 2D extending between the member IU and the plate I6 so. that two of the blades 20, 2D at opposite sides of the rotor serve as a column for resisting the braking pressure applied to the outer surfaces of the plates IB and I8.

The manner in which the blades 20, 20 at opposite sides of the rotor are positioned in pairs, each pair forming; a column between the friction plates at opposite sides of the rotor is illustrated in the View of Figure 2 immediately above the middle thereof wherein the outer extremities or edges of the blades are clearly shown in alignment at opposite sidesof the rotor. It may be noted that in my novel structure the pressure applied to the outer surfaces of the plates l5 and I8 at opposite sides of the rotor is evenly distributed among the blades 20, 2l)y which are evenly disposed about the circumference of the rotor as already described and, inasmuch as the plate 20. 2li at opposite sides of the rotor are aligned with each other, thus forming columns across the rotor, I am able to calculate the stresses to which the rotor may besafelysubjected as more fully described in my above-mentioned co-pending application.

Each of the blades 2n, 20 comprises the transversely arranged ribs 22, 22 at opposite sides The structure of the blades at opposite sides of the rotor I2 contemplates such an arrangement as will afford equal cooling capacity for the friction surfaces at opposite sides of said rotor inasmuch as the form and arrangement of the blades 20, 20 is similar to and performs the function of a radial type of blower so that when the rotor is in normal operating position, rotating at a relatively high rate of speed, peripheral force acts to throw outwardly the air between the blades and ythus to draw air into the spaces between said blades, said air being drawn from opposite sides of the bell-like portion 4 of the support member 2. The ribbed form of the blades causes the air to become turbulent when passing through the rotor and this turbulence causes the air to impinge upon the adjacent lsurfaces of the member I and the plates I6 and I8 at opposite sides thereof as well as the surfaces of the blades 2D, 20, thus reducing the film of air insulating said surfaces and facilitating the cooling thereof as will be clearly apparent. p

The hub portion 6 of the support member 2 comprises spaced bosses 23, 23 there-around and openings 24, 24 there-through, and said hub portion also comprises a bore 26. It will be readily apparent that a portion of a rotating member to which the rotor I2 is to be secured may be seated within the bore 26 and may be secured to the hub 6 by any securing means such as bolt and nut assemblies received within the openings 24, 24, said hub being reinforced at its points of securement to the associated rotating member by the spaced bosses 23, 23.

Figure 4 shows a slightly different modification of my invention in which the rotor generally designated 28 is substantially identical to that shown in Figures 1 to 3 inclusive and comprises the spaced friction plates 30, 30 with blades 32, 32 formed thereon, said blades comprising ribs 34, 34 on opposite sides thereof. In the modification shown in Figure 4 the ribs are solid instead of hollow as in the modification previously described.

It is to be understood that I do not wish to be limited by the exact embodiments of the device shown which are merely by way of illustration and not limitation as various and other forms of the device will, of course, be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the claims.

Iclaim:

1. In a rotor, spaced annular friction plates, a support member therebetween, spaced blades connecting each plate to said member, transverse ribs on said blades extending from said member to the respective plates, and means on said member for attaching said rotor to an associated rotating member, the ribs on each side of each blade being alternately arranged with respect to the ribs on the adjacent side of the adjacent blade.

2. In a rotor, spaced annular friction plates, a support member therebetween, equidistantly spaced, radially arranged, blades connecting each plate to said member, transverse ribs on said blades extending between said member and the respective plates, and means on said member for attaching said rotor to an associated rotating member.

3. In a rotor, spaced annular friction plates, a support member therebetween, equidistantly spaced, blades connecting each plate to said member, transverse ribs on said blades extending between and merging with said member and the respective plates, and means on said member for attaching said rotor to an associated rotating member.

4. In a rotor, spaced annular friction plates, a support member therebetween, spaced blades connecting each plate to said member, a plurality of substantially parallel transverse ribs on each blade extending between and merging with said member and the respective plates, and means on said member for attaching said rotor to an associated rotating member.

5.l In a rotor, spaced annular friction plates, a bell-shaped support member having a hub at the inner perimeter thereof and a plate-like portion extending between said plates, blades joining each plate to said portion, and transverse ribs on said blades extending between and merging with said portion and the respective plates.

6. In a rotor, spaced annular friction plates, a bell-shaped -support member having a hub at the inner perimeter thereof and a plate-like portion extending between said plates, blades joining each plate to said portion, and transverse ribs on said blades extending between and merging with said portion and the respective plates, the ribs on each side of each blade being alternately arranged with respect to the ribs on the adjacent side of the adjacent blade.

rI. In a rotor, spaced annular friction plates, a bell-shaped support member having a hub at the inner perimeter thereof and a plate-like portion extending between said plates, blades joining each plate to said portion, and ytransverse hollow ribs on said blades extending between and merging with said portion and the respective plates.

8. In a rotor, a plurality of friction plates, blades extending therebetween, transverse ribs on said blades, said ribs extending between and merging with said plates, and means for attaching said rotor to an associated rotating member.

9. In a rotor, a pair of annular friction plates, blades extending therebetween, a plurality of substantially parallel transverse ribs on opposite sides of each blade, said ribs extending from one plate to the other and merging therewith, and means for attaching said rotor to an associated rotating member.

10. In a rotor, a pair of friction plates, at least one of which is annular to afford an air inlet to the space between said plates, transverse blades extending between said plates, transverse ribs on said blades, said ribs extending from one plate to the other and merging therewith, and means for attaching said rotor to an associated rotating member.

11. In a brake rotor a plurality of spaced friction plates, air inlet means communicating with the space between said plates, andtransverse blower blades extending between said plates, ribs on said blades extending between said plates and merging therewith, and means for attaching said rotor to an associated rotating element.

12. In a rotor, a member of plate-like form, annular friction plates at opposite sides thereof, spaced, blades joining said friction plates to said member, and a plurality of substantially parallel transverse ribs on each blade extending between and merging with said member and the respective plates.

CARL E. TACK. 

